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Leadership is an issue of importance now, as it was tens of thousands of years ago, during the stone age. Today we need competent and skilled leaders to take charge of human organisations that are growing in size and complexity.

In old times, leaders who could motivate and put to action the small groups of people, or tribes, were absolutely essential; these leaders would decide where to look for better hunting grounds, when to worship, or what to do in the face of danger. Pretty basic stuff, but quite decisive.

In general, these primitive groups left leadership in the hands of the oldest or more experienced, the strongest, or those who in the view of the rest, had some special sort of power, probably magical. Leaders of Neolithic tribes seem to have had the qualities of a full government embodied in just one person: they were kings, high priests and the source of justice for any dispute; thus, they were extremely powerful.

This explains why the first nations that acquired territorial extension and military power were organised around the figure of a powerful king. The Assyrians, the Chinese, Aztecs and Incas had such a social and state organisation.

On the contrary, the Greeks and later, the Romans, were organised in a very different way; in ancient Greece, the concept of city-states was fundamental, but they recognised also the notion of nationality, and made a big difference between those who populated Hellenic lands, and those who were outsiders. In the case of Rome we can see a full-scale, impersonal state organisation, complete with a highly evolved society.

Medieval times in Europe meant a return to the old ways; the roman state dissolved and local chiefs became the chore of the nobility and royalty that later emerged. However, this group of leaders had one essential difference that separated them from Pharaos and Babylonian kings: they never regained the same level of power due to the existence of the church.

Naturally, they tried to and the ecclesiastic hierarchy was soon contaminated by means of politically-motivated appointments. The history of Christian institutions until at least the French revolution, some centuries later, is ripe with examples of interferences between state and faith.

However, in the end both things remained separated, so really, the power of the kings of those ancient civilisations was never regained. The function that religion played all along history has been that of a survival tool for mankind.

It is vital for society as much as any political leader or institutions. During some periods, religion has been frowned upon, and in others it has been praised.In some states, it was decided that religion was a danger for the political structures, but in the long run, it could never be eliminated. Moreover: religious beliefs are common to almost all mankind, transcending cultural barriers.It would be interesting to speculate which for would religion take in the following millennia.

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